Acquisition immediately accretive to adjusted EPS; Expands fee-for-service businesses
PARSIPPANY, NJ, 2012-09-19 — /travelprnews.com/ — Wyndham Worldwide (NYSE: WYN) today announced that its subsidiary, Wyndham Vacation Ownership (WVO), has acquired privately held Shell Vacations LLC (Shell) and its subsidiaries. Shell is one of the largest independent vacation ownership club and property management groups, serving approximately 115,000 members and 19 managed resorts in North America. The purchase price for the equity of Shell is approximately $102 million in cash. The acquisition also includes $153 million of debt, which is primarily related to consumer loan receivables.
Under the terms of the agreement, WVO assumes property management operations at 19 Shell resort locations in Hawaii, California, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Wisconsin, Texas, New Hampshire and Canada. WVO will now also operate Shell Vacations Club (SVC), a leading points-based reservation and exchange system featuring a wide variety of member benefits and travel options, and assumes management of all SVC marketing, sales and financial services activities.
“This tuck-in acquisition is immediately accretive to earnings and generates meaningful cash flow as well as a healthy rate of return. With strong fee-for-service revenues, this acquisition is consistent with our capital-light strategy,” said Stephen P. Holmes, Chairman and CEO, Wyndham Worldwide.
“With a history that spans more than four decades, Shell Vacations is both a pioneer and a respected leader within the hospitality industry,” stated Franz S. Hanning, President and CEO, Wyndham Vacation Ownership. “We look forward to building upon Shell’s achievements and continuing the growth of its highly successful vacation club by pursuing the same formula of providing outstanding quality, value and customer care.”
“We’re excited to leverage the significant scale and expertise of WVO,” said Shelly Ginsburg, Chairman and CEO, Shell Vacations. “We believe our strong commitment to owner and guest satisfaction is complemented by WVO’s demonstrated strength in managing one of the most extensive and diversified timeshare resort portfolios.”
About Wyndham Worldwide
As one of the world’s largest hospitality companies, Wyndham Worldwide offers individual consumers and business-to-business customers a broad suite of hospitality products and services across various accommodation alternatives and price ranges through its premier portfolio of world-renowned brands. Wyndham Hotel Group encompasses over 7,170 hotels with approximately 608,300 rooms worldwide. Wyndham Exchange & Rentals offers leisure travelers, including its 3.7 million members, access to approximately 100,000 vacation properties located in approximately 100 countries. Wyndham Vacation Ownership develops, markets and sells vacation ownership interests and provides consumer financing to owners through its network of over 160 vacation ownership resorts serving over 813,000 owners throughout North America, the Caribbean and the South Pacific. Wyndham Worldwide, headquartered in Parsippany, N.J., employs approximately 27,800 employees globally.
For more information about Wyndham Worldwide, please visit the Company’s website at www.wyndhamworldwide.com.
About Wyndham Vacation Ownership
Wyndham Vacation Ownership, a member of Wyndham Worldwide’s family of companies, is the world’s largest vacation ownership business, as measured by the number of vacation ownership resorts, individual vacation ownership units and owners of vacation ownership interests. Wyndham Vacation Ownership develops, markets and sells vacation ownership interests and provides consumer financing to owners through its three primary consumer brands, CLUB WYNDHAM®, WorldMark by Wyndham, and Wyndham Vacation Resorts Asia Pacific. Wyndham Vacation Ownership is headquartered in Orlando, FL, and is supported by approximately 13,700 employees globally.
CONTACTS:
Lisa Burby
Vice President, Corporate Communications
Wyndham Vacation Ownership
(407) 626-5146
Lisa.burby@wyn.com
Investor contact:
Margo C. Happer
Senior Vice President, Investor Relations
Wyndham Worldwide Corporation
(973) 753-6472
margo.happer@wyn.com